Thoughts on what this could be?

[Hrtofau2]

We added a few more fish my 40 gallon today, and did a 50% water change (I was due) and rearrange to avoid aggressive behavior towards the new fish. But as I was overlooking my established fish I happened to notice a couple of my guys have weird black/grey spots showing up. Never seen it before so I went looking online to see what it might be. Thought I would post here and get some opinions. I plan to go as my "fish guy" what he thinks tomorrow too.

For the record the fish are eating/acting perfectly normal. No signs of distress, no bullying going on. Eating like pigs. (See the last photo for proof..LOL) I have witnessed some what appears to be occasional rubbing, but only a handful of times in the last few weeks and I can not remember either of these fish doing it.

Here are a few of the photos I took tonight. The light blue fish without stripes has been solid without any markings what so ever. The striped fish you can see in the light blue section towards the head that there is grey blotches, its just not as obvious as the solid fish.


At first I was concerned maybe hole in the head, as it seems to be located mostly around the head of these two. But some of my orange fish also have some black spots showing on their sides. There is a "black spot disease" that I could not find any good photos of, nor any solid "treatment" plans. I am almost leaning towards that as a culprit, but as I said I can not find any good photos to confirm. Any thoughts?

 

[mythic55]

Few thoughts:
Bacterial: Flexibacter
Fungus: Saprolegnia

 

[JosienBB]

Huh, no experience with fish here, but @waterfaller1 might know.

 

[Kolkri]

Are you testing your water? What size is the tank? How many fish? What size filter? How often and how much do you do for water changes. How long has the tank been up?
Without more info the only advice I can give is to keep doing water changes.
I have been keeping fish for over 20 years. FYI

 

[mythic55]

That is either fungal or bacterial, water changes won't help- in fact because depending on your methods your pH can fluctuate (or hardness, etc) during the changes, and it will cause stress on the fish.

Check out those two different things I mentioned, and it will be a water treatment (both can be purchased at your local pet/fish store). You know your fish best, so it will either be something similar to a malachite green bath, or a antibiotic treatment based on the pH of your water (some bind to certain chemicals and are less effective). Any who, I'm sure you have already removed them and placed them in a quarantine tank. But you should watch the others closely.

 

[Hrtofau2]

Think I found at least part of the culprit. Last tank change threw off most my numbers. Everything just about was off, PH, Nitrates everything. Working now to get the numbers to the normal range. Added some Aragonite substrate, and am ordering (no where to be found in my area) Chiclid salt. (I had been using regular aquarium salt). Getting numbers back to where they were should hopefully clear up the issue. John (my fish guy) didnt think it looked bacterial or fungal. We will reevaluate once my numbers go to normal again.

 

[ArowanaLover]

Well for starters, i would isolate the fish that show symptoms. Also clean the decor (boil it). Another thing to do is set up a temporary tank and move your fish in their. Then turn the heater off in your cichlid tank. That should kill the thing in question (i don't know either, and i kept african cichlids for a long time and know people who have kept them much longer and are experts in the field, they never mentioned it.) I hate to say this, but i am leaning towards early stages of hole in the head. Keep us posted

 

[Yoshi&Reza]

Freshwater Livestock Articles and Qs 2: Gouramis, Bettas, Cichlids, FW Puffers... Invertebrates, Amphibians, Reptiles

Scroll down and there is the cichlid section. Hope you find some useful info!

All the way at the bottom of this page is a post that seems similar...


FAQs on African Cichlid Diseases 2

 

[gibsongrrrl]

Nothing helpful, but just wanted to say that I love the second photo. Cute fishy face